The Economic Policy Institute has found that unemployment among young college graduates is now higher in absolute terms than at the worst of the 1990 or 2001 recession. In an economy where firings sit near record lows, that means one thing: the entry point into the American workforce has narrowed to almost nothing.

People seeking their first job reached 13.3% of all unemployed Americans, the highest share in 37 years. Only 12% of graduating seniors had an offer in hand at commencement.

The Optional Practical Training program sits squarely in that chokepoint. Roughly 294,000 people hold OPT work authorization, and employers who hire them owe no Social Security or Medicare taxes — about $2.5 billion a year in foregone contributions, and a standing discount for choosing someone other than an American graduate. It was never authorized by a vote of Congress; it was built through regulation and grew past the size of the H-1B program it was created to bypass.

A program the Senate never approved is now shaping who gets hired first in this country. S. 2821, the American Tech Workforce Act, would end it. Please support and pass it.

Greg Raven, Apple Valley, CA

Sent to:
Alex Padilla, Adam Schiff